


The Bridge

by barryolivers



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, au they dont know each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 17:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2819765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barryolivers/pseuds/barryolivers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His legs dangled over the edge as he swung them, untied lace swinging slightly as he did so. Barry crossed his arms over the bars, and rested his head on them with a sigh. The bottle hung lazily between his fingers, at any moment threatening to slip through them and tumble to the water below. He huffed, sitting up straight and took a last swig of alcohol before tossing the bottle over and into the water. He watched as it spun, small droplets of the remaining alcohol flying out, splashing into the water. The bottle shortly followed. He knew he should probably care, pollution and all that shit, but he didn't.</p>
<p>"Tough day?" The voice came from behind him, but Barry didn't bother to look to the source, simply humming. There was movement, and then a presence besides him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bridge

**Author's Note:**

> An AU obvs. Barry and Oliver don't know each other.

His legs dangled over the edge as he swung them, untied lace swinging slightly as he did so. Barry crossed his arms over the bars, and rested his head on them with a sigh. The bottle hung lazily between his fingers, at any moment threatening to slip through them and tumble to the water below. He huffed, sitting up straight and took a last swig of alcohol before tossing the bottle over and into the water. He watched as it spun, small droplets of the remaining alcohol flying out, splashing into the water. The bottle shortly followed. He knew he should probably care, pollution and all that shit, but he didn't.

"Tough day?" The voice came from behind him, but Barry didn't bother to look to the source, simply humming. There was movement, and then a presence besides him. 

"I don't want to talk."

"I'm not going to force you to." Barry glanced at the man from the corner of his eyes as he rested his head on his arms again. They sat in silence for a while.

"I guess I could ask you the same." Barry could see the flash of confusion over the man's features that quickly faded once he realised.

"You could say that."

Barry raised his eyebrows in surprise, but it was hardly that. Nobody came here with _nothing_ wrong. "Do _you_ want to talk about it?"

The man let out a humourless laugh. "There's not much to talk about." Barry realised that he was squatting, and a brief thought of 'that can't be comfortable' crossing his mind.

"Not much is still something." There was a slight thud, and Barry glanced besides him and saw that the man was now seated, his legs slipping under the bar, his position now like Barry's. Except he sat taller, and more confident.

"Reminiscing, I suppose." The man paused with a sigh, and Barry brought his full attention to him. "I don't think there's a better way to say it."

"A bad reminisce, though, right?" Barry narrows his eyes slightly as he thought about if reminisce was even a word.

"Yeah." Was the man's simple response.

"Anniversary of my mom's death." Barry rushed out, before resting his head on his arms again.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Barry rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm not trying to guilt-trip you, or whatever." He sighed slightly. "I just thought-- you told, so I gotta."

The man let out a small breathy laugh. "I understand. If it makes you feel any better, my mother is dead too."

"No. Actually, that did not make me feel better." Barry looked down at the water, the man completely gone from his vision now. "My mom was killed in front of me." Barry breathed, slapping himself internally. There wasn't really any going back now.

"As was mine."

Barry snapped his head up then, it hitting the bar slightly and he groaned. "You gotta be shitting me."

The man shook his head. "I'm not."

Barry huffed, running a hand through his hair, it becoming more messy than it already was.

"There's something else on your mind." The man stated it as if it were fact, and Barry frowned slightly at the man's observation skills.

"Not something else." Barry paused for a moment. "I mean, it's still got something to do with my mom. But not, at the same time."

The man frowned. 

"She was killed, right. We established this. But-- there was--" Barry stuttered slightly. He was unsure as to why he was telling this man anything. They knew nothing about one another, and yet, Barry felt as though he could trust the man. It wasn't like they'd see each other again anyway. "It wasn't like a normal murder. There was lightning, _in my house._ That's not really why I'm-- I don't know why I told you that." Barry closed his eyes for a moment.

"It's okay." When Barry opened his eyes he could see that man offering a small smile of fondness. "You're confused."

Barry sighed and nodded. "But I feel like I could've stopped it. Like, there's a part of me saying that I could've stopped it. That if I was a little faster, or if I'd gotten out of bed when I was woken up, that I could've save my mom." He was rambling now, and he couldn't stop himself.

"Do you know what I think?" The man spoke up, stopping Barry from speaking anymore. "That you can't change the past. You can mourn about your mother, that's perfectly normal. But you cannot blame yourself. I don't know you, but I think it's safe to say it's not. You couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes, that's what's meant to be. It took _me_ a while to realise, but you cannot change the past. You need to live in the now."

At some point Barry had rested his head on his arms again. "Thank you." He whispered, looking to the spot where the man was. But he was gone. The words however, stuck in Barry's mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Meh. Yeah. Probably slightly ooc, sorry about that. ^=^


End file.
